More Thoughts From Me #15: Graphics Not Included

Before there was graphics, there was the Text Adventure. One part reading, one part imagination, text adventures are just a novelty now but they are a really important part of gaming history. Let me take you on a trip back in time…

Once a upon a time, there were no fancy graphics (actually, there were no graphics at all). There wasn’t even gameplay as we know it now. There were no video game consoles; only the PC. I wasn’t alive then. When I was born, there was an Atari and soon after that, the NES. But I did get to play some of those games without graphics. They were called Text Adventures and still very much around on the PC when I was growing up. (heck, I played one a few years ago online). Of course, kids these days may not know what the heck I’m talking about. Some of you older people, my age, may not even know what I’m talking about.

Let me give you an example. This is something I made up, but its pretty close to what you’d find in a Text Adventure (yeah, I know you could also just look at the screenshot above! shut up).  Here we go:

“ You approach a river. There is a boat in the river and a man in a black hood sits on the boat. What will you do? “

Talk

“ What do you want? Says the man.”

Boat

“ Pay me money and you can ride in my boat, the man says with an evil grin.”

Shoot Man

“ What do you want to shoot the man with? “

Crossbow.

” You shoot at the man with a crossbow but he dodges the attack and then kills you with magic. You are dead. “

That’s sort of how Text Adventures went. You’d have to try different options and see what worked the best. There was a lot of trial and error in the games and it was easy to get lost. Since there was no graphics, you had to rely on the descriptions given and your own imagination! Whoa. Scary. Using your imagination there. Don’t strain yourself.

My favorite Text Adventure I ever played was a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Text Adventure (see above). You can still find it online here! It’s really wonderful, wacky, and strange. (though, it should be noted that “graphics” have been added to the version that I’m linking to. ugh)

“ You finish reading a column by Daniel Fugate and you decide to play a Super Nintendo game. There are three games laid out in front of you: Super Metroid, A Link to the Past, and Super Tortimer. Which game will you play? “

Super Tortimer.

“ You put Super Tortimer into the Super Nintendo and a screen comes up saying, “ This game doesn’t exist! Congrats! “–signed Tortimer. You are now dead.”

Have you ever played a Text Adventure? What is your favorite one? Is it still available to play anywhere? Let us know in the comments!

Next week: Kingdom Hearts!